As news of Deborah Maynard’s upcoming invocation at the Iowa State Legislature spread, so did the fact that Maynard will be the third Pagan Priestess to offer such a prayer before a state body. As we noted on Wednesday, Cleda Dawson was the first in 1999 and Selena Fox was second.in 2009,
At the time of our report, neither the video recording of Dawson’s or Fox’ invocation was available online. While Circle Sanctuary is still working on acquiring a copy of the 2009 Wisconsin invocation, a clip of Dawson’s invocation has since been uploaded to YouTube. On April 2, a local Pagan, who works in the “legislative media,” was able to track down a VHS copy and transfer it into a digital format. .
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On April 1, Heathens United Against Racism (HUAR) issued a declaration stating that the “Confesión Odinista Española (C.O.E.) has been covertly engaged in” racism. HUAR said that this declaration is “based on an extensive investigation submitted to us by an independent source.” The statement and background data are provided on HUARs public Facebook page.
Several hours after the declaration was released, C.O.E. fired back, denouncing HUAR as a “farce.” They challenged HUAR and its independent sources to prove the accusations, saying that C.O.E. is against all forms of “fundamentalism” including the “politicized HUAR.” HUAR has not yet responded.
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Heather Carr [Courtesy S. Carr]
On Tuesday, several British Columbia news sources reported that a woman had been killed in a “ritual gone horrifically wrong.” Several added words like “Pagan ritual.” After further investigation, it turns out that the woman was Shamanic Witch Heather Carr, and she was, in fact, doing a ritual when she or her clothing caught on fire.
Carr was well-known and loved by the locally Pagan community. Openly practicing Witchcraft, she ran the “Being Out of the Broom Closet” Facebook group and taught at local events. Blogger Sable Aradia was one of Carr’s friends and has written more about the Carr’s life and death on her blog. We will have more on this story in the coming days.
In Other News:
- The Centre for Pagan Studies has posted a “series of 6 twenty minute programmes on Witchcraft broadcast by BBC Radio Sheffield.” This series has not been heard since 1971 and was originally “presented by Patricia and Arnold Crowther.” The Centre for Pagan Studies received them from Crowther in their original cassette tape format. Then, the organization digitized and published them with permission from the BBC.
- Conjure-Craft, a partnership between Orion Foxwood and Susan Diamond, will be hosting its first annual weekend event. Billed as a “meeting of magical minds,” the new seaside forum will be filled with “workshops and immersion experiences in the many modes of magic through education, sacred ceremony and skills development in shamanism, spiritual healing, seership, root-work and witchery.” Special guests include Lou Florez and Sharon Knight. Conjure-Craft will be held April 11-13 in Santa Cruz, California.
- Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG) has released its new art work to celebrate the festival’s 35th anniversary. Since 1980, PSG has been welcoming Pagans and people of many paths for a week-long event to celebrate Summer Solstice. The new artwork, created by Colleen Koziara of Mystical Willow Productions, pulls from the festival’s history. PSG organizers said, “Every Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG) has had a unique theme that helps focus the energy of participants …All thirty five of those themes are represented in the image, as chambers of the nautilus shell.” This year, PSG will be held from June 12-21, at Stonehouse Farm in Northern Illinois.
- In the wake of the RFRA legislation and subsequent protests in Indiana, writer David Freedlander of the The Daily Beast interviewed Wiccan Priest Dusty Dionne of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church in Washington. Freedlander reached out to Dionne after learning about his very vocal position on Georgia’s proposed religious freedom legislation.The article, titled “Mike Pence’s New Fan Club: Wiccans.” was published March 31. The story was picked up by Raw Story and Jezebel.
- Sacred Space organizers have put out a call for proposals and workshops for the 2016 event.The newly published form explains that they “use a peer review process for selection based on methods used in academic scholarly communication.” Sacred Space 2016 will be held from March 10-13 in Maryland. All proposals are due by June 21, 2015.
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To be clear – a “response” to COE on HUAR’s part was not necessary, as HUAR had already provided “proof” – that was actually the first move. What was posted was not just a declaration, but a document with screenshots of the COE leadership engaging in a lot of racist, xenophobic behavior. If anything, COE’s “statement” was itself a non-response, albeit a very defensive and loud one.
Witch hunt, nothing else. An official statement on its way.
I have wondered how our co-religionists would fare in states where RFRA has been enacted. I do have to wonder why the “dominant” religion in this country would whine that their rights are being repressed anytime someone seeks inclusion of their faith or way of life. Do the Christian religions in this country really need “protection” when they would deny basic rights to anyone or everyone else? If a dominant religion actually cries, I’m being repressed!, I have to wonder just how strong their religion/relgious belief is. WWJD? How would he react to what his self-proclaimed followers are doing with his words? You know, Love your neighbour/one another as you would yourself.
I hope that standing can be acheived by someone, in each state with the RFRA, in order to send it to SCOTUS for a good slapdown.